A Mask in A Mirror

Chapter 1: Junior Middle School

Day one, take five. It was to be my first day at the new school. Mom was a soldier, so we traveled a lot, jumping from base to base. Guess that makes me a military brat. That's what got dad I think, the moving. He left when I was little. I haven't seen him since; don't plan on seeing him again. This time was special for me though, we weren't going to another base. Having passed my fourteenth birthday, mom and I decided that I was old enough to live on my own. So we went and got ourselves a house in small town USA near my uncle Matt. It was a drizzly Tuesday, and it was time for a new beginning.

I walked into school on my first day at Far Hills Middle School with an empty backpack and a full mind. I was used to adjusting, meeting new people, I was used to being the new kid, accustomed to starting over. But this time was different. Because this time, I was there to stay. Whatever I did had the potential to affect me for the next five years of my life and for once, I was starting to feel a little nervous. The only person I knew was named Tyler, I had met him on my enrollment day. His sole advice before I left our short acquaintance was, "Stay away from Jordan. The girl is freaking insane!" Yet my life is filled with irony and coincidence, thus I wasn't all that surprised to learn that Jordan Plume had been tasked with showing me around the school and helping me find my classes the moment I walked in.

Keep in mind this was junior high, so whatever interactions these two individuals had, it was certain to have been supervised. Maybe they went to the same church, or met at a sporting event, something along those lines anyway. Never the less I had taken Tyler's warning to heart, because if a guy who barely knew her could tell she was crazy, then surely her fellow classmates could as well. It just wouldn't be smart to make friends with insanity on my first day. Not in that crucial first week when all eyes would be on me, 'the new kid.'

I was instructed by the kind lady in the front office to meet Jordan Plume in the school cafeteria before the morning bell. Lucky for me the cafeteria was directly across from the office, saving me a half hour of wondering aimlessly around the school looking for it. I scanned the crowd gathered for breakfast and morning conversation, searching for... well to be honest I didn't have a clue what Jordan looked like, I knew she had curly black hair, and from what I knew about crazy people I figured she was probably wearing mismatched socks.

"Clayton Appleson! Or Clay! Or maybe just Ton... Oh you, whatever your name is!"

I froze. The voice came from behind me. There was only one person in that cafeteria who had a reason to already know my name, and this girl sounded plenty crazy. "Oh, yeah, um I'm Clay." Spinning and sticking a hand out. I then quickly retracted my hand as the girl standing before me was far too pretty to be crazy, therefore too sane to be Jordan Plume.

"Hey-low, I'm Jordan! Welcome to Far Hills, it is so exciting to have a new person in school! Here, let me introduce you!" In her excitement she seemed to have missed my retracted handshake because she wrapped me in a full hug. It was a brief hug, and directly after it she leapt onto the top of the nearest cafeteria table. "This ladies and gents, is the new guy! Everybody, I give you Clay!" Listening to her proclamation I momentarily forgot that I was in a school cafeteria, replacing it instead with a circus tent as the ringmaster announced the newest freak show, namely, me. To my horror the audience silenced completely as she addressed the room and proceeded to respond to her introduction with an unbelievably unison "Hello Clay." Shocked out of words and redder than Old McDonald's barn, I tentatively threw a hand in the air, giving the crowd a feeble wave.

Jordan hopped down from her soap box on top of the lunch table. "Ok, now that you've met everybody, where is your first class Clay?" She smiled and her dazzling white teeth knocked me out of what few motor controls I still had. I stuttered to spit out a full sentence before eventually settling for a coherent thought. "Breakfast, uh, no I mean lunch, darn-it, what I'm trying to say is, ah, Mrs. Cardel."